Our Hero Academia: Chapter 13
File:OHA Ch13.png To Reach the Top Zenji walked a few feet from his classroom, waiting outside the equally large door for Class 2-B. The belle rang, and the students from Class 2-B exited. A few of them said hi, others just gave him looks. A blonde girl gave him a brief smile and wave before catching up to a white-haired kid. That's when who was really waiting for came out. "What's up Ei?" he said to the last male student to exit the classroom. "Zenji Kaisei," he said. "It's been a while since I last saw you." A young girl with black hair came following behind Eikyo, he slightly blocked the walk way which prevented her from exiting the room entirely. "Outta the way Eikyo!" She smacked his behind in protest, just to be sure he'd make notice of her being there. "Horatia, no need to be so hostile," he said, moving out of the way enough for her to exit the classroom. He put his arm around her shoulder. "You remember Horatia, right Zenji?" "Yes," Zenji grumbled. Horatia looked Zenji up and down, as if judging his appearance. "So, you still look as lonesome as ever." Zenji quickly sniffed the air. "You still smell like a bitch." Horatia scoffed at his comment, but she had to admit it was a good comeback regardless. "Hell do you want Kaisei." "I'm here to Ei, not you." He turned his attention back to other Class B student. "You're probably one of the strongest students in our year--" "The strongest," Eikyo interrupted. "Yeah, whatever, I would like to train with you for the lead-up before the Sports Festival." Horatia gave Zenji yet another look, taking pride in the situation Zenji had just put himself in. "Well, Eikyo and I already said we'd train together, so if you want to train with him. You gotta put up with me too." "Great," Zenji thought. "Well, I need to work on training against high speed opponents, my dad and sister have been busy lately, so I'd enjoy laying you flat on your ass." "Play nice you two," said Eikyo. "I don't want to have to pry you two off of each other again like last year." "No promises." "You got lucky during the Sports Festival! I'm not letting my guard down this time." She was prepared to go all out on him during the training. Not to help him, but just to put him in the dirt. "I'd lay you flat on your ass. Only problem is you barely have one." "I have been told I have a great ass thank you very much!" Zenji shouted. Some of the students walked through the hallway stopped and stared at the group of three. "If you show that you're embarrassed, she wins." "Let's just get to one of the training fields," said Eikyo, "before either of you embarrass yourselves further." "Oh Eikyo, you know me." She kissed him on his cheeks before heading towards the training field. "I never get embarrassed." "I hate your girlfriend," said Zenji. "She's not my girlfriend." ---- The three students arrived at one of the fields shortly afterwards. It was after regular class hours, so there weren't that many people on campus. "First thing's first," said Zenji, stretching as he was in his P.E. clothes. "Come at me Horatia." Horatia stretched as well, limbering up so she could perform her high speed sprints. "Get ready!" She didn't have her Chronal Stabilizer on, so she had to be careful with how much she used her quirk. She charged at Zenji with full speed, performing a power slide to get to his side. She followed up by putting all her balance onto her left arm, rotating her body to get a good kick at the back of Zenji's knee. Zenji did a small hop, jut over her kick, but ensuring he wouldn't be in midair for too long. On his way back down, he aimed to stomp on her leg. Thanks to the momentum, she'd gotten her legs out of Zenji's stomping zone. She found herself in the perfect position to perform a tackle. And by instinct, she lunged for the chance. Ready to bring him to the ground. Zenji allowed her momentum to carry, his legs being taken off the ground. He wrapped them around Horatia's waist, and used momentum to flip her over and using his legs to keep her trapped within them. As Zenji flipped her over on the ground, she kept a grip on him. Still using the momentum, she pushed on him to roll herself over on top. Suggesting it all goes as planned, she'd move onto using her legs to keep Zenji's enclosed together. Restricting his movement and giving her complete dominance over the boy. Zenji laid on the ground, Horatia going for an attempt to pin him. A quick snap could be heard from Zenji's legs as suddenly Horatia was flung from his body. Zenji winced, but the pain quickly subsided as his bones were automatically set and fused. "You're not gonna use your Quirk? It's the entire reason I'm even entertaining the idea of this fight." Horatia stuck the landing, sliding a bit due to the momentum and little friction. She smirked as it was obvious Zenji anticipated the arrival of her quirk. "I can't just use my quirk willy nilly. You have to actually be worth it." She taunted, hoping he'd go for the bait. Zenji picked up a rock from the ground, tossing it up and down. "Gotta fastball for you." Another snap could be heard as he through the rock with bullet-like speed right towards her stomach. Horatia acted on instinct, activating her Quirk on accident. "Why that dirty son of a-" She ran at him, counting down from 5 in her head. She swung a punch at his stomach as everything set back in motion. To what was 5 seconds for Horatia, wasn't even a second for everyone else. In reality, she'd sprinted at Zenji. Yet to everyone else, it seemed as if she teleported right in front of him. As the punch was already in motion before Horatia returned to the flow of time, it would seem impossible for Zenji to dodge her punch. The punch hit Zenji square in the gut, but without even a moment of hesitation he launched a punch straight at Horatia's face, with enough force to send her hurtling backwards. "So predictable." Horatia activated her quirk again. Zenji's fist stopping right before the blow. She exhaled in relief and quickly ran to Zenji's back side. She jumped to his back right as she returned to the flow of time. She seemed to teleport once again, she went in to use her legs to wrap around Zenji's neck from the back. Blue particles appeared where her arms would normally be, yet they seemed absent. "Look at you, forcing me to use my quirk two times in a row." She began to squeeze her thighs around his neck, attempting to force him to pass out. "Who's predictable now Kaisei?" "Still you," Zenji managed to gasp out. He grabbed onto Horatia's legs, but didn't make a great attempt to remove her from him. His grip increased more and more, his strength was bone-crushing. If one didn't know any better, they'd say Zenji was actually trying to break her legs. Lucky for Zenji, he was very good at holding his breath. Horatia was surprised that he'd started to move her leg. Especially with her lower body strength. Her left arm phased back into place, the blue particles that originally took it's place had vanished. "Looks like good ole Lefty's back!" She used her left arm to grab at Zenji's hands while still using her legs to squeeze at him. "You know Kaisei, you definitely could've made it into the hero's course like the rest of us. If anything, you were just too dim-witted at the time to realize how to use your quirk in combat." Zenji's fingers started to crack as his strength increased even further. He opened his mouth, aiming to tear a chunk of flesh off from Horatia's leg, but suddenly the air was knocked out of his lungs. He flew backwards with so much force that Horatia was sent flying off of him as well. "I'm sorry, but that was getting obscene," said Eikyo. Horatia landed with a stumble. She looked at Eikyo and sighed. "Whatever." She dusted herself off as she walked over to him. "Be honest, who won?" "Don't know, don't care," said Eikyo quickly. "So, do you want to fight me next?" "No," Zenji replied, panting. "I want you to break me." Horatia shrugged, they were most likely expecting her to use an innuendo. But she decided against it. "Shouldn't be too hard breaking him. It's keeping him broken that's the real issue." "That's the idea" said Zenji, loosening his muscles up with a few more stretches. "I get stronger the more times I get injured. So I want you to break me until I can't break anymore." "You sure about this?" said Eikyo. "You don't have any morphine on you. You'll feel every bit of pain from this." "I know," Zenji replied. "I'll get to increase my pain tolerance too." "I say give him what he wants." Horatia took a sip of her water. "You both benefit regardless." "Alright then." Eikyo began taking a few steps towards Zenji. He took a step upwards and found himself standing on the air. He stopped ascending a few feet above Zenji. "Ready?" Zenji braced himself. "Ready." Eikyo pulled his arm back, his palm open. He forced it back down. An invisible wall suddenly pinned Zenji to the ground. He began to push against somehow being able to lift it just slightly off of himself, a cracking being heard in his arms. "More power!" And Eikyo gave him just that. Zenji was completely prone on the ground, the asphalt below him even giving way as he slowly sunk into it. "Panic Word is pie!" Horatia shouted. She didn't want anyone getting hurt more than they needed to. So she felt it was only right to give him a word to say when he had enough. Zenji grunted as he was pressed further and further into the ground. The cracking and breaking of not just the ground, but his own bones rung through the air. His eyes looked determined. "I don't think he's gonna use it," said Eikyo. Horatia just watched on as Zenji sunk further and further into the ground. She knew he'd recover later. But he shouldn't have to put himself through something like this just to prove his strength. Eikyo relented, the air pressure suddenly stopping. Zenji slowly leaned back up. His body began to heal, the bones setting back into place. Zenji looked back up to Eikyo. "Again." Horatia sighed, watching Zenji and Eikyo begin their training once more. At this rate, I'll never advance. She got up and prepared to train on her own while the other two did their thing. ---- Horatia had exhausted herself, she sighed heavily as she looked back over to Eikyo and Zenji. What the hell, they've been doing the same damn thing for an hour. She took a long and appreciated sip from her water. Now her water battle was empty. She hit her hand against the metal to be sure if there was anything left. She sighed. "I'm going to get some more water. Maybe you both should take a breather." Eikyo stopped pushing down on Zenji with his Quirk. The latter Quirk user's regeneration had begun to slow down. "Actually, let's go get something to eat. They're probably gonna kick us out of here in a few minutes. School's gonna close soon." Zenji laid prone on the ground, panting in the crater the two of them had made. "Food sounds good. Can you carry me though?" Horatia returned with her filled water bottle, looking down at Zenji in the pit below. "I'd be more concerned about your appearance. No way you're going somewhere to eat looking like that." She sipped from her bottle, quenching her thirst. "Plus you smell from all that sweating, no one wants to smell your boy must while trying to eat." "Hey Eikyo," called Zenji. "Yeah?" "Push her into the hole. I want to get my boy musk all over her." "HA, Ei is my loyal best friend. As if he'd ever betray my friendship for the likes of you." She shouted dramatically, even fiercely pointing at him as she ended the sentence. Eikyo lightly pushed her, as if he was going to push her into the hole, but smiled, showing that he was kidding. He used his Quirk to lift Zenji out of the hole. "Seriously though," began Zenji, "if I don't eat, I can't heal. If I can't heal, I can't clean myself. Do either of you want to give me a bath?" "Ew, no." Horatia was disgusted by even the mention of Zenji and a bath. Let alone the thought of it. And she'd be absolutely repulsed if she actually had to give him a bath. "Eikyo, you threatened to push me into the hole. You wash him." "That's disgusting," said Eikyo. "And besides I was kidding. You wash him." "I don't want to see THAT naked!" Horatia retaliated. "Besides, it's so cruel of you to suggest a lady wash a man." "Well, women have ''been washing men for centuries." "If you get me some friggin food, neither of you will have to wash me," Zenji cut in. Horatia groaned, realizing he indeed had a point. "Fine, what do you want to eat?" "I'm a fan of chicken." "You better have your own money. Ei, carry him since you're the reason he can barely move to begin with." She headed for the girl's locker room. "You both may enjoy walking around in sweaty gym clothes. But I actually care for my hygiene." "Screw you," Zenji managed to get out, chuckling to himself. Eikyo and Zenji went to the men's locker room to pick up their stuff. By that point, Zenji had regained enough stamina to be able to put his own clothes on and stand up. "Why do you and Horatia hate each so much?" asked Eikyo. Zenji raised an eyebrow. "You were there!" "Yeah, but I wouldn't hate you after a loss in the Sports Festival," said Eikyo. "You don't hate me. Clearly you did something wrong." "I didn't do anything," Zenji responded. "I guess I could've acted a bit cocky, but I'm not nearly as bad as Ryuji. I'm cuter too." Eikyo remained silent for a second as he slipped on his shirt. "I'm not going to respond to that." Horatia exited the girl's locker room and waited for Eikyo and Zenji near the entrance of the boy's locker room. She turned on her phone and answered a few texts and playing games shortly after. She leaned on a nearby wall, donning a casual white blouse and black jeans. Eikyo walked out of the locker room, shortly followed by Zenji. "So, do you know a good place that sells chicken?" Horatia raised her eyebrows in confusion while keeping focused on the game she was playing. "Sells or has it as a menu option? Cause there's a difference." "I personally don't care," groaned Zenji. His stomach rumbled, and was still panting from the training earlier. "It'd be quicker if we just got fast food then." Zenji's stomach rumbling causing Horatia to mess up on the game, she tapped the retry button in annoyance. "Just pick one already, you're the one hollering about food in the first place." "I don't live around here," said Zenji, "I don't know where shit is. That's why I'm asking you guys." The irritation in his voice became more noticeable. "First of all, I ask you check your attitude." Horatia said in defiance, "There's a fried chicken place not too far. We'll just go there." "Friggin fried chicken," said Zenji. "That's one of my top three favorite things to eat, let's go. Lead the way." Horatia turned off her phone and made an exit for the school gates, "Bet his number one is Griselle's p-" She starting laughing before being able to even finish. "Bet your favorite is Ei's d-" unlike Horatia's laughter, his was less genuine. "You know," began Eikyo, "it's not fun being friends with both of you." "Oh please you love me." Horatia let Zenji's comment slide, ''He's just pissed that nobody wants his. It didn't take very long for the group to arrive at their destination. A few people gave Zenji strange looks due to his more disheveled appearance in comparison to his colleagues, but he just ignored them. They ordered their chicken, and Zenji quickly began digging in after sitting down at a table. "Thanks for the meal!" He began digging in, the remaining scratches that were still on his body beginning to heal and disappear the more he ate. "This is friggin fantastic!" Zenji thought about making a snide comment about how the only thing Horatia was good for was picking places for him to eat, but decided he didn't want to cause a scene in a public place, or put Eikyo on the spot like that again. Horatia began to eat some of her chicken as well, noting how sloppy Zenji's eating was. However she was at least satisfied his wounds were gone. Already spoiled my appetite, Mom's gonna be pissed. Zenji scarfed down the rest of his food in mere minutes. A lesser man might've gotten sick. "So, what're we doing after this? Training some more? Going home." "I might train more with Horatia today," said Eikyo. "You should go home." Horatia nodded in agreement. "You've already gotten pummeled enough today." "Screw you, I can go all night long." "Alright Horatia, if you say something, he's probably just gonna ignore you. Zenji look. A little fuel up isn't going to completely replenish your calorie count. After we're done here you should go home." Horatia groaned, Eikyo had a point. And truth be told, she wasn't up for any further arguments with Zenji. She went back to her phone as she waited for the conclusion. "Fine," said Zenji. "We'll get back to this tomorrow though." "Yeah, sure just get home." Zenji finished the rest of his food and got up, throwing away his trash on the way out. "What a swell guy." Horatia rolled her eyes in protest. "Yea right. He's an idiot." She continued tapping away at her phone, moving quicker to keep up with the fast paced level she was on. "You know he only hates you because you hate him." "Yea, I know." Horatia cleared the final level of the game, the supposedly hardest level. She'd only gotten the game yesterday and finished what took others months to finish. She went on to uninstall the app and install a new game. "He's a challenge. That's really why I hate him." "You know, most people relish the idea of a good challenge," said Eikyo, still picking at his chicken. Horatia turned off her phone and put her focus on Eikyo. "You should know by now, I'm not most people." "Fair enough," sighed Eikyo. "It's a little hard sometimes, dealing with both of you. You're like two bickering children." "Yea? You're not so perfect either." She retaliated, "You're literally one of the cockiest people I've ever met." "Well I have a right to be," joked Eikyo. "Can you fly?" "No." Horatia returned with her own joke. "But why fly when you can fuck with Space-Time?" "Eh, not as impressive," he said with a smirk. "Honestly, anyone can fly Eikyo. Be it in a plane or using a jetpack. The only difference between you and them is that you don't need gadgets." Horatia drank some water she'd asked for along with her food. "On the other hand, not many people are capable of messing with Space-Time remotely similar to the way I can." "'Cept Zenji's family," said Eikyo. "Weird how he's the only Mutant in his family, isn't it?" "Yea." Horatia replied to the change in topic, "On top of that, his quirk really sticks out from the rest of the family." "Even so, you gotta admit, he's come pretty far." Horatia bit into her chicken with irritation. Why does everyone hold Zenji on this pedestal for his abilities? "Honestly, he didn't have that far to go. His quirk is already much more useful in combat compared to some of the other Hero Course students. He claims it doesn't hold combat value, but his quirk is capable of mimicking strength amplification just by breaking a few bones." She took another bite, yet more aggressive than before. "On top of that, he can heal most injuries in a short span of time. Personally, him failing the entrance exam and somehow coming out as one of the better students in last years Sports Festival? If anything, it seemed like a publicity stunt to me." And it worked. Eikyo laughed to himself. "That would be the most elaborate publicity stunt I'd have ever seen. Zenji's not an idiot, but he's not that smart either. Not to mention, he always tells the truth if you ask him a question, like how it's actually really hard to overwrite one's neural pathways to allow for the unrestrained strength of the human body to be active all the time. Or at least something like that. The exact science is lost on me." "Zenji is a fairly simple person. But it's always the ones whom seem simple that can be the most conniving." Horatia stood up, it was getting late. And if her appetite had been spoiled, she'd get an earful from her mom. "You should be going home, I'm sure your mom must waiting for you." Although there was always the option Eikyo had told his mom he'd be late. He was arguably the more responsible out of the two. "Yeah, you're right, she'd kill me if I was out for too long at night. Can I walk you home though? She thinks you're pretty cool, so I think she'd understand." "Sure, I'll be your scapegoat." She replied jokingly. Eikyo quickly finished his food before standing up. He held out his arm in a hook fashion, beckoning her to link into it. "Shall we?" Horatia accepted his proposal, wrapping her arm around his. 'Yes we shall."